MANURE POETICS

Until this summer, I and the hubby lived as bachelors, e.g. our fridge usually contained hordes of Diet Cokes or Pellegrino water. This summer, we had kids on the mountain for five weeks and I was responsible for feeding them. Gawd, what a challenge, especially since they don't like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches which, needless to say, are quite convenient for plumping up a belly. So, fine, Moi took a deep breath and plunged into actually using the kitchen accouterments I'd previously considered to be "sculptures." And now I can, with some pride, say that I can list what apparently are my "kitchen staples" if I am to actually cook, to wit:

olive oil
soy sauce
pinon nuts
rice
tortillas
pasta
pinto beans
salt
garlic
tomatos
frozen peas
frozen pizza dough
vanilla ice cream
chicken (already roasted of course and from the local deli; I mean, Mom taught me how to roast a chicken complete with garlic between skin and flesh but it takes two hours and four different temperatures and Moi's not got the time nor temperament....)
Marie Callenders frozen dinners (the hubby and I once did a taste test of frozen meals; Marie Callenders is the best....)

As you can glean, I have quite a while to go before I topple Martha Stewart offa her pastel plaid throne. And, yes, no doubt pinon nuts would be an unexpected staple for Moi, but I've got basil growing out the gazoo and pesto is easy! And speaking of harvests, you can see some fertilizer in the books section of Moi lates Relished W(h)ine List below -- and I do hope to harvest the bounty from that shi....I mean, preparation, soon.

Which also leads to a relished wine list that doesn't seem to ever shorten. Because fertilizing and harvesting makes me drink.

THE CITY SLICKER'S HARVEST (to date)
12 Santa Rosa plums
50 apricots
68 strawberries
1,312 basil leaves
327 purple basil leaves
267 mint leaves
393 pinches of parsley
3 zucchini
2 yellow squash
1 orange squash
56 tomatoes
40 green figs
2 green onion stalks
15 green peppers
8 Japanese eggplants


PUBLICATIONS
THEORIES OF FALLING, poems by Sandra Beasley

THE SELECTED POEMS OF HAMSTER by Carlos Blackburn

THE ROUTE, poetry/correspondences by Patrick Durgin and Jen Hofer

ACOUSTIC EXPERIENCE, poems by Noah Eli Gordon

SAVAGE MACHINERY, poems by Karen Rigby

TOURMALINE, poems by Dorothea Lasky

AWAKE, poems by Dorianne Laux

LETTERS TO YESENIN, poetry by Jim Harrison

AFTER THE POISON, poems by Colin Kelley

SUBSISTENCE EQUIPMENT, poems by Brenda Iijima

MENTAL COMMITMENT ROBOTS, poems by Sueyeun Juliette Lee and collages by Brenda Iijima

BODY CLOCK, poems by Eleni Sikelianos

THE HEAVEN-SENT LEAF, poems by Katy Lederer

WOMEN POETS ON MENTORSHIP: EFFORTS &AFFECTIONS, Edited by Arielle Greenberg & Rachel Zucker

HARD TIMES IN PARADISE: AN AMERICAN FAMILY'S STRUGGLE TO CARVE OUT A HOMESTEAD IN CALIFORNIA'S REDWOOD MOUNTAINS, memoir by David and Micki Colfax

SLUMMY MUMMY, novel by Fiona Neill

SCREAMFREE PARENTING: THE REVOLUTIONARY APPROACH TO RAISING YOUR KIDS BY KEEPING YOUR COOL by Hal Edward Renkel (sp)

PARENTING WITH LOVE AND LOGIC: TEACHING CHILDREN RESPONSIBILITY by Foster Cline, M.D. and Jim Fay

ATTACHING IN ADOPTION by Deborah D. Gray

RAISING A SON by Don Elium &Jeanne Elium

WELCOME HOME! AN INTERNATIONAL AND NONTRADITIONAL ADOPTION READER, Eds. by Litz Linzer Schwartz and Florence W. Kaslow

TWO LITTLE GIRLS: A MEMOIR OF ADOPTION by Theresa Reid

IN THEIR OWN VOICES: TRANSRACIAL ADOPTEES TELL THEIR STORIES, Eds. Rita J. Simon and Rhonda M. Roorda

FAMILY WANTED: STORIES OF ADOPTION by Sam Holloway

A LOVE LIKE NO OTHER: STORIES FROM ADOPTIVE PARENTS, Eds. Pamela Kruger and Jill Smolowe

FOREVER LILY: AN UNEXPECTED MOTHER'S JOURNEY TO ADOPTION IN CHINA by Beth Nonte Russell

THE ADOPTION SOURCEBOOK: A COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE COMPLEX LEGAL, FINANCIAL AND EMOTIONAL MAZE OF ADOPTION by Cheryl Jones

ADOPTING THE OLDER CHILD by Claudia L. Jewett

PARENTING THE HURT CHILD: HELPING ADOPTIVE FAMILIES HEAL AND GROW by Gregory C. Keck and Regina M. Kupecky

OUR OWN: ADOPTING AND PARENTING THE OLDER CHILD by Trish Maskew

FOREVER PARENTS: ADOPTING OLDER CHILDREN by James E. Kloeppel and Darlene A. Kloeppel

YOUR CHILD'S SELF ESTEEM by Dorothy Corkille Briggs


WINES
2001 Turley Paso Robles zinfandel
2005 Luigi Bosca Reserva Malbec
2001 Jones Family Cabernet NV
2005 Kistler chardonnay Sonoma Valley
2005 Donnhoff Niederhauser Hermannshohle riesling auslese
2001 Etienne Sauzet Montrachet
1990 Val Sotillo Gran Reserva
2006 D.R. Stephens chardonnay
2004 Dutch Henry Argos NV
2004 Dutch Henry chardonnay Los Carneros
2000 Dutch Henry Reserve Zinfandel "Galatea Bottling" (a Jerobaum)
1999 Torbreck Barossa Valley "The Steading"
2006 Dutch Henry rose NV
2000 Judds Hill cabernet
2005 JJ Prum Wehlenuhr Sonnenuhr Auslese
1994 Henschke Mount Edelstone Keyneton Vineyard shiraz